Match of the Round
Newcastle Olympic 1-9 Maitland FC
Maitland FC coach Ben Horgan was thrilled his side stuck to their standards despite a shaky start in their commanding 9-1 victory over Newcastle Olympic at Darling Street Oval on Saturday.
The Magpies came out of the gates firing, with a shot on target almost immediately but it would be Olympic who broke first.
A miscalculated pass by Maitland goalkeeper Annabella Thornton saw Olympic’s Jemma House get onto the loose ball and tap it into an empty net in the second minute.
But Olympic would not hold the lead for long as the Magpies responded instantly.
Georgia Amess ran down the right of the park, sliced it into the box and as Olympic goalkeeper Isabella Aquilina dove for a Natalie O’Driscoll attempt, Sophie Stappleford found the back of the net.
Maitland netted their second in the eighth minute as Amess charged down the field and sent the ball onto the run of Ceanna Frost who broke free from the defence and found the goal.
Elodie Dagg doubled the Magpies’ lead in the 23rd minute after a well-worked play down the field by Willow Neal. Neal delivered the ball to Stapleford, who cleverly flicked it on, allowing Dagg to finish and find the back of the net.
Olympic looked for a second in the 33rd minute after Eva Donnelly launched a long-range shot and Thornton was unable to collect the ball, but Magpies defence swarmed and cleared it.
Maitland secured their fourth and fifth goals from Dagg’s corners, with Tahlia Gossner converting both, sending her side into the sheds with a commanding 5-1 lead.
Just moments into the second stanza the Magpies would net their sixth after Olympic’s Kate Heap fouled Amess in the box. Dagg stepped up to the spot and calmly converted the penalty.
Despite the early penalty, Olympic entered the second half stronger as dire defence and strong saves by Aquilina were on show.
But goals for Frost in the 63rd minute and Amess in the 70th minute, saw Maitland take their lead to 8-1.
Centre-back Tahlia Gossner sealed the result and completed her hat-trick in the 85th minute, rising to head the ball into the net after Josie Morley whipped a dangerous free kick into the box.
“It was very good, we were focussed. We have set ourselves standards that we want to try and stick to every week, and after an obviously bit of a shaky start we got to that level pretty quickly, and we maintained it,” Horgan said.
“We're just trying to maintain our level of football for as long as we can and try and cut out the periods in games where we drop off as much as we can and we did that today.
“We get the confidence to play in the front half because of how good our back four, our goalkeeper and our six are, and they're confident enough that they will do their job and push people forward, so that we can get numbers higher up the pitch.
“Tahlia [Gossner] is obviously outstanding, like not just in terms of the headed goals and the hat-trick, but she's just an organiser.
“She's always alert and switched on, and even when we're on top in games, they're still prepared, if there's a counterattack, they're ready to defend it.
“It was good to see her get goals at the other end, but yeah, we're just as happy to watch her and AB [Annabella Thornton] do it defensively.”
It was Newcastle Olympics fourth loss of the season and coach Neil Owens showed frustration at his side's inability to produce results on the park.
“The disappointing part of that result was all the goals that we conceded, was all the stuff that we spoke about, and we just never executed that. That's the major disappointing part,” Owens said.
“Definitely the passes were much, much better, so that's an improvement. But then the game plan still fell apart. It was just good opposition, you’ve got to give credit to Maitland.”
It was just the second match this season that Olympic opened the scoring, but Owens was left unimpressed after his side conceded soon after.
“13 seconds or 14 seconds after our goal we conceded, so that's pretty disappointing as well,” Owens said.
“It was exactly what we spoke about during the week. Georgia [Amess] getting around the back, on the right-hand side, crossing them on the ground and it's just a replica of everything we spoke about as a team.
“But that’s the way it is, and we move on to next week.”
Olympic look to bounce back from the large defeat when they welcome Adamstown Rosebud JFC to Darling Street Oval on Sunday. While Maitland will be eager to continue their dominant ways when they host Broadmeadow Magic at Cooks Square Park on Friday night.
Broadmeadow Magic 1-5 New Lambton FC
Broadmeadow Magic coach Jason Konjarski said his side threw the gameplan out the window in their disappointing 5-1 defeat to New Lambton FC on Sunday afternoon.
New Lambton entered the match with fresh legs after serving the bye in round four and it was on show when they opened the scoring seven minutes into the match.
Molly Salvador battled with Magic defenders at the top of the box, flicking the ball on the path of an unmarked Tara Andrews, who burst forward before calmly slotting it into the bottom-right corner.
Jessica Wallace equalised for Magic in the 34th minute when a brilliant solo effort saw her charge down the field as New Lambton goalkeeper Janali Haynes came off her line. Wallace rounded Haynes and slotted the ball into the empty net.
The two sides battled before half-time to steal the lead but were sent into the sheds locked up 1-1.
The Golden Eagles regained their lead in the 63rd minute after Nyah Bradley found Andrews in the box. Andrews twisted with Magic defenders and sliced the ball past goalkeeper Malli Blanch to find the back of the net.
Andrews secured her hat-trick just seconds after the restart, getting on the end of a well-placed ball before sending it into the bottom-left corner.
New Lambton extended their lead to 4-1 in the 75th minute when Sienna Fraser-Kelly launched the ball into the box where Andrews rose above the defenders and headed the ball into the back of the net.
Salvador sealed a 5-1 win for New Lambton in stoppage time, getting on the end of a long-range ball from Andrews before guiding it into the bottom-left corner.
“It was very poor, we didn't execute our game plan. We kicked and chased and didn't look to play feet,” Konjarski said.
“We just didn't execute anything that we spoke about before the game or at half-time. We had a plan and we just threw it out the window.
“In the first five minutes of both halves, we just started playing kickball, kick and chase. It's an easy way out when things are maybe going a little bit tough. I think we combined more passes in the last five minutes than we did the whole game.
“It was sort of like the game's over and done, there's no pressure and now we can just pass it around. I wasn't super happy with the performance at all.
“They're all obviously disappointed and upset, but they get the chance now to rest, recover, have a training session, and have a reaction.
“That's what they said after the game, we're going to react now.”
Magic will look for that reaction on Friday night when they travel to Cooks Square Park to take on Maitland FC.
Meanwhile, New Lambton will return to Alder Park on Saturday night looking to extend their unbeaten run against Lake Macquarie City FC.
Charlestown Azzurri 3-0 Lake Macquarie City FC
Charlestown Azzurri’s improved form was on show when they locked in their first win of the season downing Lake Macquarie City 3-0 at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday.
Lake Macquarie City searched for a goal from the first whistle, eager to bounce back from their first loss of the season.
But a strong Azzurri backline and Danielle Bartels’ return between the sticks kept Azzurri in the match, sending both teams into the sheds locked at 0-0.
Charlestown broke the deadlock in the 65th minute when Aoife Redman played a well-timed ball onto the path of an unmarked Jess Gentle. Gentle charged into the box and calmly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Tallon Convery to give her side the lead.
Lakes searched for an equaliser but lacklustre attempts and determined defence saw them remain 1-0 behind.
Azzurri doubled their lead in the 85th minute when Convery brought down Riley Gardner inside the box. Captain Chloe Martin stepped up and converted the resulting penalty.
Redman sealed the win for Azzurri two minutes into stoppage time, getting on the end of Jannali Hunter’s free kick from halfway before tapping the ball into the net to secure a 3-0 victory.
Lake Macquarie will look to return to winning ways after back-to-back defeats when they travel to Alder Park to face New Lambton FC on Saturday. Charlestown will have the bye.
Bye - Adamstown Rosebud JFC